Network addressable storage controller with storage drive profile comparison

Abstract

Embodiments are directed towards a controller that provides individual network accessibility to a storage drive. The controller may include a first connector operative to couple with a storage-drive connector, a second connector operative to couple with a backplane connector of a multi-storage-drive chassis, memory, and processor. The controller may convert communication received through the first connector into an Ethernet protocol for output through the second connector, and convert communication received through the second connector into a storage-drive protocol for output through the first connector. A physical shape of the controller may fit adjacent to the storage-drive connector and occupy less space than is bounded by peripheral edges of an end of a separate housing of a storage drive coupled to the storage-drive connector. The controller may manage power provided to the storage drive and may coordinate with other controllers to manage power-up sequences of multiple storage drives.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A wireless controller computer, comprising:
 a first connector that is operative to be coupled with a storage-drive connector of a storage drive; 
 a wireless interface that is operative to wirelessly communicate via a waveguide, located in a multi-storage-drive chassis, with one or more other wireless controller computers and a radio adapter that provides communication over a network with one or more network computers; 
 a memory device for storing instructions; 
 a processor device that is operative to execute the instructions to perform actions, including:
 converting at least a portion of communication received through the first connector from a storage-drive protocol into an Ethernet protocol for output through the wireless interface; 
 converting at least a portion of communication received through the wireless interface from the Ethernet protocol into the storage-drive protocol for output through the first connector; 
 wirelessly communicating with one or more other wireless controller computers to cooperatively manage operation of the storage drive and one or more other storage drives correspondingly coupled to the one or more other wireless controller computers; 
 monitoring performance of the storage drive; 
 generating a profile plurality of profiles for the storage drive based on the monitored performance of power consumption for a plurality of states of the storage drive, wherein the plurality of states include a start-up state, an idle state, an initial access state, and a sustained read/write state; 
 determining if the storage drive is potentially failing based on variations in the storage drive's profile plurality of profiles as compared to other profiles for the one or more other storage drives that is correspondingly coupled to the one or more other wireless controller computers; and 
 providing an alert regarding the determined potentially failing storage drive. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The wireless controller computer of  claim 1 , wherein the wireless controller computer is operative to communicate—independent of the radio adapter—with the one or more other wireless controller computers to manage power-up sequences of the storage drive and the at least one or more other storage drive drives correspondingly coupled with the one or more other wireless controller computers. 
     
     
       3. The wireless controller computer of  claim 1 , wherein the wireless controller computer is operative to communicate—independent of the radio adapter—with the at least one or more other wireless controller computers to manage distributed data storage and recovery between the storage drive and the one or more other storage drives correspondingly coupled with the one or more other wireless controller computers. 
     
     
       4. The wireless controller computer of  claim 1 , wherein the wireless controller computer enables the storage drive to be network addressable independent and separate from other storage drives. 
     
     
       5. The wireless controller computer of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 at least one storage drive is a different type than another type of the storage drive; and 
 a physical shape of the wireless controller computer is operative to fit adjacent to the storage-drive connector and occupy less space than is bounded by peripheral edges of an end of a separate housing of the storage drive coupled to the storage-drive connector. 
 
     
     
       6. The wireless controller computer of  claim 1 , wherein the processor device is operative to execute further instructions to perform further actions, comprising:
 determining a profile additional information that is included in the plurality of profiles of the storage drive, wherein the profile additional information includes at least a history of one or more of the plurality of states of power consumption, temperature, or and latency of the storage drive; and 
 determining when the storage drive is exhibiting failure characteristics based on a comparison of the profile plurality of profiles of the storage drive to with the other profiles of the one or more other storage drives. 
 
     
     
       7. The wireless controller computer of  claim 1 , wherein communicating with the one or more other wireless controller computers includes:
 communicating with one or more of the other wireless controller computers or a network computer to cooperatively manage operation of the storage drive and the at least one other storage drive.   
     
     
       8. The wireless controller computer of  claim 1 , wherein the first connector is a Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) connector, and wherein the wireless interface supports at least one standard protocol, including WiFi (IEEE 802.11), Bluetooth (IEEE 802.15.1), WiMax (IEEE 802.16), or MiWi (IEEE 802.15.4). 
     
     
       9. The wireless controller computer of  claim 1 , wherein the processor device is operative to execute further instructions to perform further actions, comprising:
 providing a request to backup the storage drive to an administrator of the storage drive; 
 alerting the administrator of the storage drive of a potentially failing storage drive; and 
 modifying an amount of power supplied to the storage drive. 
 
     
     
       10. The wireless controller computer of  claim 1 , wherein the processor device is operative to execute further instructions to perform further actions, comprising:
 determining one or more parameters of the storage drive; 
 determining a power supply of the multi-storage-drive chassis; 
 determining one or more power-up sequences for the storage drive based on the determined storage drive parameters and the determined power supply; and 
 employing one of the one or more power-up sequences that is optimal based on a request to access data on at least the storage drive. 
 
     
     
       11. A system for managing operation of a plurality of storage drives, comprising:
 a wireless multi-storage-drive chassis, including:
 a power supply for supplying power to the plurality of storage drives and a plurality of wireless controller computers that are correspondingly coupled to each storage drive; 
 a backplane for enabling communication with each storage drive located within the chassis; 
 a radio adapter for providing wireless communication between each wireless controller computer and communication over a network with a network computer; and 
 
 each of the plurality of wireless controller computers, including:
 a first connector that is operative to be coupled with a storage-drive connector of a storage drive;,  
 a wireless interface that is operative to wirelessly communicate via a waveguide with the radio adapter and one or more other wireless controller computers; 
 a memory device for storing instructions; 
 a processor device that is operative to execute the instructions to perform actions, including:
 converting one or more portions of communication received through the first connector from a storage-drive protocol into an Ethernet protocol for output through the wireless interface; 
 converting one or more portions of communication received through the wireless interface from the Ethernet protocol into the storage-drive protocol for output through the first connector; 
 communicating with one or more other wireless controller computers to cooperatively manage operation of the storage drive and one or more other storage drives correspondingly coupled to the one or more other wireless controller computers; 
 monitoring performance of the storage drive; 
 generating a profile plurality of profiles for the storage drive based on the monitored performance of power consumption for a plurality of states of the storage drive, wherein the plurality of states include a start-up state, an idle state, an initial access state, and a sustained read/write state; 
 determining if the storage drive is potentially failing based on variations in the storage drive's profile plurality of profiles as compared to other profiles for the one or more other storage drives that is correspondingly coupled to the one or more other wireless controller computers; and 
 providing an alert regarding the determined potentially failing storage drive. 
 
 
 
     
     
       12. The system of  claim 11 , wherein each wireless controller computer is operative to communicate—independent of the radio adapter—with the one or more other wireless controller computers to manage power-up sequences of the storage drive and the one or more other storage drives correspondingly coupled with the one or more other wireless controller computers. 
     
     
       13. The system of  claim 11 , wherein each wireless controller computer is operative to communicate—independent of the radio adapter—with the one or more other wireless controller computers to manage distributed data storage and recovery between the storage drive and the one or more other storage drives correspondingly coupled with the one or more other wireless controller computers. 
     
     
       14. The system of  claim 11 , wherein each wireless controller computer enables the storage drive to be network addressable independent and separate from other storage drives. 
     
     
       15. The system of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 one or more storage drives is a different type than another type of the storage drives; and 
 a physical shape of the wireless controller computer is operative to fit adjacent to the storage-drive connector and occupy less space than is bounded by peripheral edges of an end of a separate housing of the storage drive coupled to the storage-drive connector. 
 
     
     
       16. The system of  claim 11 , wherein the processor device is operative to execute further instructions to perform further actions, comprising:
 determining one or more additional information that is included in the plurality of profiles of the storage drive, wherein the profile additional information includes one or more of at least a history of one or more of the plurality of states of power consumption, temperature, or and latency of the storage drive; and 
 determining when the storage drive is exhibiting failure characteristics based on a comparison of the one or more profile plurality of profiles of the storage drive to the other profiles determined for of the one or more other storage drives. 
 
     
     
       17. The system of  claim 11 , wherein communicating with the one or more other wireless controller computers includes:
 communicating with one or more other wireless controller computers or a network computer to cooperatively manage operation of the storage drive and one or more other storage drives.   
     
     
       18. The system of  claim 11 , wherein the first connector is a Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) connector and the wireless interface supports at least one standard protocol, including WiFi (IEEE 802.11), Bluetooth (IEEE 802.15.1), WiMax (IEEE 802.16), or MiWi (IEEE 802.15.4). 
     
     
       19. The system of  claim 11 , wherein the processor device is operative to execute further instructions to perform further actions, comprising:
 providing a request to backup the storage drive to an administrator of the storage drive; 
 alerting the administrator of the storage drive of a potentially failing storage drive; and 
 modifying an amount of power supplied to the storage drive. 
 
     
     
       20. The system of  claim 11 , wherein the processor device is operative to execute further instructions to perform further actions, comprising:
 determining one or more parameters of the storage drive; 
 determining a power supply of the multi-storage-drive chassis; 
 determining one or more power-up sequences for the storage drive based on the determined storage drive parameters and the determined power supply; and 
 employing one of the one or more power-up sequences that is optimal based on a request to access data on the storage drive. 
 
     
     
       21. A method for employing a wireless controller computer to manage operation of a storage drive coupled to the wireless controller computer in a wireless multi-storage-drive chassis, wherein the wireless controller computer performs actions, comprising:
 converting one or more portions of communication received through a first connector of the wireless controller computer from a storage-drive protocol into an Ethernet protocol for output through a wireless interface of the wireless controller computer, wherein the first connector is operative to be coupled with a storage-drive connector of the storage drive; 
 converting one or more portions of communication received through the wireless interface from the Ethernet protocol into the storage-drive protocol for output through the first connector, wherein the wireless interface is operative to communicate wirelessly via a waveguide with a radio adapter that provides communication over a network with one or more network computers;,  
 wirelessly communicating with one or more other wireless controller computers to cooperatively manage operation of the storage drive and one or more other storage drives correspondingly coupled to one or more other wireless controller computers; 
 monitoring performance of the storage drive; 
 generating a profile plurality of profiles for the storage drive based on the monitored performance of power consumption for a plurality of states of the storage drive, wherein the plurality of states include a start-up state, an idle state, an initial access state, and a sustained read/write state; 
 determining when the storage drive is potentially failing based on variations in the storage drive's profile plurality of profiles as compared to other profiles determined for one or more other storage drives that is correspondingly coupled to the one or more other wireless controller computers; and 
 providing an alert regarding the determined potentially failing storage drive. 
 
     
     
       22. The method of  claim 21 , wherein the wireless controller computer performs further actions, including:
 providing a request to backup the storage drive to an administrator of the storage drive; 
 alerting the storage drive administrator of the potentially failing storage drive; and 
 modifying an amount of power supplied to the storage drive. 
 
     
     
       23. The method  claim 21 , wherein the wireless controller computer performs further actions, including:
 determining one or more parameters of the storage drive; 
 determining a power supply of the multi-storage-drive chassis; 
 determining one or more power-up sequences for the storage drive based on the determined storage drive parameters and the determined power supply; and 
 employing one of the one or more power-up sequences that is optimal based on a request to access data on at least the storage drive. 
 
     
     
       24. The method of  claim 21 , wherein communicating with one or more other wireless controller computers, includes:
 communicating—independent of the radio adapter—with the one or more other wireless controller computers to manage power-up sequences of the storage drive and the one or more other storage drives correspondingly coupled with the one or more other wireless controller computers. 
 
     
     
       25. The method of  claim 21 , wherein communicating with the one or more other wireless controller computers, includes:
 communicating—independent of the radio adapter—with the one or more other wireless controller computers to manage distributed data storage and recovery between the storage drive and the one or more other storage drives correspondingly coupled with the one or more other wireless controller computers. 
 
     
     
       26. The method of  claim 21 , wherein the storage drive is independently network addressable and separate from other storage drives, and wherein a physical shape of the wireless controller computer is operative to fit adjacent to the storage-drive connector and occupy less space than is bounded by peripheral edges of an end of a separate housing of the storage drive coupled to the storage-drive connector. 
     
     
       27. The method of  claim 21 , wherein the wireless controller computer performs further actions, comprising:
 determining a profile additional information that is included in the plurality of profiles of the storage drive, wherein the profile additional information includes at least a history of at least one or more of the plurality of states of power consumption, temperature, or and latency of the storage drive; and 
 determining when the storage drive is exhibiting failure characteristics based on a comparison of the profile plurality of profiles of the storage drive to with the other profiles of the one or more other storage drives. 
 
     
     
       28. A controller computer, comprising:
 a first connector that is operative to be coupled with a storage-drive connector of a storage drive;   a second connector that is operative to be coupled to a non-wireless network interface of a multi-storage-drive chassis, wherein the controller computer communicates through the second connector over a network with one or more wireless controller computers, one or more network computers, or one or more other controller computers;   one or more processors that perform actions that enable operations performed by the controller computer, including:
 converting communication received by the first connector and the second connector between a storage-drive protocol presented at the first connector and a non-wireless network protocol presented at the second connector; and 
 enabling management of the operation of the storage drive; 
 monitoring performance of the storage drive; 
   generating a plurality of profiles for the storage drive based on the monitored performance of power consumption for a plurality of states of the storage drive, wherein the plurality of states include a start-up state, an idle state, an initial access state, and a sustained read/write state;   determining if the storage drive is potentially failing based on variations in the storage driver's plurality of profiles as compared to other profiles for one or more other storage drives that is correspondingly coupled to the one or more wireless controller computers or the one or more other controller computers; and   providing an alert regarding the determined potentially failing storage drive.    
     
     
       29. The controller computer of claim 28, wherein the one or more processors perform further actions, comprising communicating with the one or more wireless controller computers, the one or more network computers, or the one or more other controller computers to cooperatively manage operation of the storage drive and the one or more other storage drives coupled to their corresponding wireless controller computer or other controller computer.  
     
     
       30. The controller computer of claim 28, wherein the one or more processors perform further actions, comprising enabling the one or more network computers to independently address and manage the operation of the storage drive.  
     
     
       31. The controller computer of claim 28, wherein the one or more processors perform further actions, comprising enabling one of the one or more network computers to operate as a master network computer, wherein the master network computer provides independent instructions to one or more of the controller computer or the one or more wireless controller computers to operate as a slave and perform one or more of accessing data, saving data, deleting data, powering up its coupled storage drive, or depowering its coupled storage drive.  
     
     
       32. The controller computer of claim 28, wherein the network interface includes a wireless interface that enables communication with the one or more wireless controller computers or the one or more network computers.  
     
     
       33. A processor readable non-transitory storage media that includes instructions for a method for managing operations of a storage drive coupled to a controller computer over a network, wherein the controller computer employs one or more processors to execute the instructions to perform actions, comprising:
 enabling operations performed by one or more network computers, including:
 employing a first connector to couple with a storage-drive connector of the storage drive; 
 employing a second connector to couple with a non-wireless network interface of a multi-storage-drive chassis, wherein the controller computer communicates through the second connector over the network with one or more wireless controller computers, the one or more network computers, or one or more other controller computers; 
 converting communication received by the first connector and the second connector between a storage-drive protocol presented at the first connector and a non-wireless network protocol presented at the second connector; and 
 enabling management of the operation of the storage drive; 
 monitoring performance of power consumption of the storage drive; 
 generating a plurality of profiles for the storage drive based on the monitored performance of power consumption for a plurality of states of the storage drive, wherein the plurality of states include a start-up state, an idle state, an initial access state, and a sustained read/write state; 
 determining if the storage drive is potentially failing based on variations in the storage drive's plurality of profiles as compared to other profiles for one or more other storage drives that is correspondingly coupled to the one or more wireless controller computers or the one or more other controller computers; and 
 providing an alert, regarding the determined potentially failing storage drive.  
   
     
     
       34. The processor readable non-transitory storage media of claim 33, wherein the one or more processors execute the instructions to perform further actions, comprising:
 communicating with the one or more wireless controller computers, the one or more network computers or the one or more other controller computers to comparatively manage operation of the storage drive and the one or more other storage drives coupled to their corresponding other controller computer or wireless controller computer.    
     
     
       35. The processor readable non-transitory storage media of claim 33, wherein the one or more processors execute the instructions to perform further actions, comprising:
 enabling the one or more network computers to independently address and manage the operation of the storage drive.    
     
     
       36. The processor readable non-transitory storage media of claim 33, wherein the one or more processors execute the instructions to perform further actions, comprising:
 enabling one of the one or more network computers to operate as a master network computer, wherein the master network computer provides independent instructions to one or more of the controller computer, the one or more wireless controller computers, or the one or more other controller computers to operate as a slave and perform one or more of accessing data, saving data, deleting data, powering up its coupled storage drive, or depowering its coupled storage drive.    
     
     
       37. The processor readable non-transitory storage media of claim 33, wherein the network interface includes a wireless interface that enables communication with the one or more wireless controller computers, the one or more network computers, or the one or more other controller computers.